My findings on the M50 after 3 years of heavygigging with it

Discussion relating to the Korg M50 Workstation.

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StudioMan
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My findings on the M50 after 3 years of heavygigging with it

Post by StudioMan »

I used to post CONSTANTLY on here. I was one of the originals on here, I was one of the first to own and gig with the M50.
I just saw all the Private messages asking questions that stopped about a year ago. Im sorry for not relying. I've been VERY busy and once I had a really solid grasp, all I was doing was answering the same questions over and over.
Anyways:
After over 3 years(maybe 4, it was November when it first came out) of weekly gigging, Im happy to say my M50 is STILL in top working order. :D

The ONLY issue I've had, was the LED in one of the red buttons (combi) burned out in the first 6 months. Korg offered to fix it, but I couldnt find time to send it in/drop it off. I needed the instrument. Im sure it's something simple, eventually I may tear it apart and fix it myself.

This was heavy road use (but in a good case).

Last night in my studio, a guy asked "is that new"(asking of my M50). It made me think just how solid of a work horse this work station has been for me.

The sounds (JUST LIKE when I first got it and did some studio work with it) are STILL amazing. Spend some time, you can find a sound close, them mess with it and like magic, it's close enough to perfect than nobody notices live.

The touch screen held up PERFECTLY! I was originally concerned about scratches. But it literally does not have a single scratch on it. (During a gig, I RARELY if ever have to touch it after loading any click tracks (songs) I need.

The bed (keys) are still looking GREAT! Limited scratches. ALL still work perfect.

All knobs are fine, but they NEVER get touched live (I play guitar or bass as a primary instrument in all my bands, so the keys only get utilized may 10 to 20 songs a night, some songs, the M50 is basically a click track.

I was always REALLY careful setting up the power supply and after about a year, I rigged it so the power supply stayed in the unit. It's the one thing that concerned me from day one for heavy gigging. Maybe I was lucky or maybe it's more durable that it appears, either way, mine is problem free! :-)

I wonder if a thread ever got posted on duplicating songs, and sharing them with each other? I always thought that would be cool, besides the fact I personally had 50 songs setup, and very few others had any songs.

I truly hope everyone else doing heavy gigging on a M50 has had the same luck that I have had. For my use, the M50 was without a doubt the PERFECT workstation for me. For programming, I'm sure having the ability to sample like the M3 would have saved me some minimal time setting up songs, but I got through it making sounds VERY close to my goal.

For those of you just looking for a cool workstation for in the studio (Or in your bedroom), you will not go wrong with the M50 (even tho the M3 will do a little more{Vocator and Sampling are really the only two that means a lot, relitively speaking}). In the studio, I have a vocator and the ability to fire samples, so for me, I only needed the heart of the M50 for simple gigging. (I want everything in my personal backline to be SIMPLE!)

I hope this info. helps someone not sure on the M50 compared to the Yamaha equivelant. GO WITH THE KORG! GREAT INSTRUMENT, easy to learn (READ the entire manual AND try everything, plan on 200 hours to truly know the instrument to it's full capability).

Lates!
Studioman

My M50 never fell without being in it's case (luckily:).
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michelkeijzers
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Post by michelkeijzers »

Great to hear such a positive story.

I also gigged with it, not heavily but about 30 times in a few years, but I dragged it weekly to and from the rehearsal room in that time.

I also was a bit careful about the power supply but I always put the adapter in the case first and the rest of the cabling was just 'rolled up' and put in a backpack (works better for me than a case).

Now it's still in use at home but still in good/perfect working condition.
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StudioF
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Post by StudioF »

The M50 is a good and decent synthesizer. im happy with the machine. lots of stuff for little money. :)
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alexdx
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Post by alexdx »

Yes, I'm happy with my M50 too. I do not use a sequencer, I use M50 for live playing background for our group only. With combis I have a sound suited for us. And now, with microX like external module (controlled from m50), i have a vast amount of sounds.
C:\> run
#AlexD#
Current gear: Krome - I love it; Vox ToneLab ST - simply perfect; Hartke KM200 - thunder on the stage; Epiphone LP GoldTop - i always wished
Past gear: M50 - my honey; microX - replacement for my X50 (like sound module controlled from M50); X50 - lightweight and powerful; KORG AX 3G - small and well
csteen
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Post by csteen »

What module are you using studioman?
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kimu
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Post by kimu »

confirm. i too am using M50 since it appears here in italy and a part for the well-known freezing problem, never had a problem and i play at least once or twice a week with it
oj9
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Post by oj9 »

I would be interested to know how you set up your favourites/way of getting to sounds for gig easily?
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kimu
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Post by kimu »

well i was used to very rapid program/combi change using the number keys since glorius Trinity days :twisted: with m50 i just use the touchscreen... i placed all the program i need in the bank E under the same category "User" (or something like that, anyway are the only sounds in this category), then simply i keep the touchscreen on the screen where i see the bank E with 16 patches at once in the screen, just touching on patch the sound changes (but not the screen...) :wink:
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Post by csteen »

Yes, that is another great thing about the touchscreen. The changes are so easy and fast.
Same thing with the arps and drums, I find myself making changes on the fly with both frequently. :D
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alexdx
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Post by alexdx »

oj9 wrote:I would be interested to know how you set up your favourites/way of getting to sounds for gig easily?
I already wrote in another thread (http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=66011) ... I use only combis. For every song in our song-book i have own combi ... it is easy, when we play a song #65 - Wish You Were Here ... i input 065 ... hit Enter and ... show must go on
C:\> run
#AlexD#
Current gear: Krome - I love it; Vox ToneLab ST - simply perfect; Hartke KM200 - thunder on the stage; Epiphone LP GoldTop - i always wished
Past gear: M50 - my honey; microX - replacement for my X50 (like sound module controlled from M50); X50 - lightweight and powerful; KORG AX 3G - small and well
oj9
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Post by oj9 »

alexdx wrote:
oj9 wrote:I would be interested to know how you set up your favourites/way of getting to sounds for gig easily?
I already wrote in another thread (http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=66011) ... I use only combis. For every song in our song-book i have own combi ... it is easy, when we play a song #65 - Wish You Were Here ... i input 065 ... hit Enter and ... show must go on
That's ok but I really only use programs which I may move about in fast without warning and I can't go to the hassle of making a combi for every song...is there any way to make use of User 6 and 7 empty slots in Prog mode, or even put them all on a SD card?
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kimu
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Post by kimu »

don't which problem you may have, but i just copied preset i am interesting in in the bank E location, from slot 096 they are all free.

the option to copy program in a different location is in the menu inside the main page of the given program, when asked where to save i just select bank E, slot greater than 096 and assign them the category User...

where do you find trouble ?
oj9
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Post by oj9 »

This is what I did:

Program mode -> Bank E -> 097 -> it comes up with a guitar sound! And lots after it are full too!

Also I could not find how to copy a program to a new location :roll:
csteen
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Post by csteen »

Hit the drop down tab at the top right of the screen to write the program to a new location. Easy Breezy.
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Post by StudioMan »

When I'm in the studio, I'm still a softsynth kind of guy! :-).. I have used the Karma stuff, THAT stuff IS AMAZING!

@ alexdx: I set EVERYTHING up in Combis, even if I use only one program (which I think everything I have setup has at least a couple voices). It's just simpler for me.
You can use a combi for just one single program.

I should clarify, maybe 1/2 of the time I use my M50 rig I use it at a click track.

Have fun guys! And for those of you who don't truly know the capabilities of the M50, SIT DOWN WITH THE MANUAL for 50 hours with the M50 right in front of you. Once you learn it all, it truly is a powerful tool/instrument with an amazing soundset.

Pretty cool, one of my "Stickys" is still up there! Ya, I was literally one of the first on here when EVERYONE was a Newb on the M50. The original guys, we all helped each other. I was active for sometime. When people started asking stupid questions "How do I know if I'm in combi mode"? It wasn't worth my time, so I lost interest.

I hope the power users are helping each other and it's not just the power users helping people to lazy to read the manuals.
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